Meet Gwen Poole, the Unbelievable Gwenpool

Gwenpool revved her motorcycle for the first time in 2015's HOWARD THE DUCK. After donning a pink costume (that coincidentally looks a lot like Deadpool's), Gwen Poole revealed to the reader that she wanted to go from being an extra to a main character in a comic—because, you see, she grew up as a comic nerd in "the real world" (yes, our world) before she busted down that fourth wall and joined the Marvel Universe.

So, for her first meta-move in the Marvel Universe, Gwen swiped some deadly merchandise from Black Cat and sold it to Hydra. Fortunately, Howard the Duck convinced Gwen to help him save the universe she almost doomed. While they succeeded in their quest, Howard begged Gwen to stop acting so reckless.

Of course, Gwen didn't listen. Safety isn't exciting!

GWENPOOL'S EARLY ADVENTURES

Instead, Gwen leapt into another story to build her roster of adventures. Next up: GWENPOOL SPECIAL (2015) #1. When asked to kill a mythical snake-man for cash, Gwen lifehacked her way to defeating him by following tutorials on the Internet—only to then recount her slapdash murdery plan to a thoroughly confused Ms. Marvel at She-Hulk's holiday party. 

From there, the jobs that this devil-may-care "hero" took on became more dangerous. No, it didn't matter if Groot and Rocket Raccoon stood in her path to collect a bounty on a fugitive alien named Chammy; she'll fight the Guardians with a smile on her face and crash a cop car. She stuck around in the pages of ROCKET RACCOON & GROOT (2016) to help the duo rescue Captain Marvel from a doomed fate to ensure that one of her favorite Marvel characters survived to entertain her with another tale down the road.

GWENPOOL'S DUBIOUS MORALS

Is Gwen willing to train under Batroc to be the most excellent mercenary ever? Sure! Especially if it means that she doesn't have to think about things like her family, hometown friends, high school, jobs, real life, etc. Those things don't belong in the world of comics. Even when Santa Claus asked her if she missed her family in GWENPOOL HOLIDAY SPECIAL: MERRY MIX-UP (2016) #1, Gwen quickly changed the subject.

This is Earth-616. This isn't "the real world," at least according to Gwen.

A bank robbery? No sweat! She'll gun down the thieves, just like she did in the opening pages of her first solo series, THE UNBELIEVABLE GWENPOOL (2016)—which, of course, she narrated along the bloody way.

GWENPOOL'S EVOLUTION

While Gwenpool calls herself a hero, her violent actions and katana-wielding antics led many in the Marvel Universe to call her an unstable mercenary for hire with no discernable morals, team allegiances, or guiding code. Although characters around her have tried to tell her that—like when Rocket Raccoon pointed out that she just murdered a bunch of birds at random—she simply responded with a funny quip and didn't understand their concern.

In her mind, she isn't scary. After all, she grew up as a comic nerd in "the real world." Equipped with superfan knowledge of Marvel characters, secret identities, tropes, plot holes, and powers, she believes all of her shenanigans are just good and messy fun. Sadly, she never imagined that anything she did had consequences for others. After all, anyone who dies in comics can always come back to life. Right? Thinking about the consequences to her indiscriminately killing others? Yikes! That's scary…

However, that's exactly what happened on her journey. From whimsically joining M.O.D.O.K.'s team as a hired gun to reconciling with her limits, she realized she never has been a hero to Earth-616. And even if people do come back to life, that didn't mean their deaths didn't hurt them or those close to them.

GWENPOOL & THE GUTTER SPACE

If stomaching that fact wasn't enough for the teenage antihero to reconcile with, Gwen also slowly learned that her fourth-wall-breaking commentary isn't just a funny riff on the Merc With a Mouth's comedic talents. Given her in-depth background in comics, she can not only alter the lives of characters and events, but she can also bring people into the Gutter Space between panels. Having realty-shaping powers that can change existence proved to be a pivotable point in her story about what kind of character she ultimately wanted to be.

In THE UNBELIEVABLE GWENPOOL (2016) #19, an older version of Miles Morales visited Gwen to warn her that this rewriting and unthinking meta-commentary would lead her down a dark road. The longer she played and reimagined the world of Earth-616, the further she walked down this destructive path. Evil future Gwen only cared about keeping her story running as long as possible in the Marvel Universe, regardless of who might get cut. Eventually, she chose a way forward that kept the reality of her beloved heroes and villains intact.

GWENPOOL TEAM-UPS

In between her solo adventures, Gwen joined the West Coast Avengers alongside Kate Bishop, Clint Barton, America Chavez, and Kid Omega. Across WEST COAST AVENGERS (2018), she fended off a giant-sized version of Tigra, struck up a brief romance with Quentin Quire, and even adopted Jeff the Land Shark as the team's pet.

She also joined forces with Spider-Man and Deadpool starting with SPIDER-MAN/DEADPOOL (2016) #49 when the duo needed an assist from her Gutter Space capabilities. Then, as she realized the end of her run was nearing in GWENPOOL STRIKES BACK (2019), she pulled escalating heists in a desperate attempt to stay relevant in the Marvel Universe—only to discover a new place for herself with a self-affirming retcon.

Within her latest journey in LOVE UNLIMITED: GWENPOOL (2023), Gwen continued to evolve as a character coming to grips with their queer identity by embracing her asexuality and overall place in the Multiverse. While Gwen isn't perfect, she represents a powerful message for comics readers: what we do after our mistakes will define what kind of character we become in the real world.

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